The Department of Public Service and Administration has issued Determination and Directive aimed at providing norms and standards to implement the revised Public Service Corporate Governance of Information and Communication Policy framework.
Earlier this week, Public Service and Administration Director-General, Ms Yoliswa Makhasi issued a circular to all heads of national and provincial departments on the implementation of the public service corporate Governance of Information and Communication Technology policy framework.
The revised policy framework which applies to all national, provincial departments; national and provincial government components, was approved In March earlier this year by Cabinet.
According to Director-General Makhasi, a Head of Department must ensure that all requirements are achieved within 12 months of the approval of this determination and directive.
She further said that failure to comply with the Determination and Directive must be dealt with in terms of sections 16A and 16B of the Public Service Act in 1994.
Corporate Governance of ICT principles
Head of Department must ensure that the corporate governance of ICT principles are upheld when developing and implementing all ICT policies, processes and procedures.
As the governance champion accountable for the corporate governance ICT, the Head of Department must establish the corporate governance ICT of system and monitor its performance.
A system is a set of structures, roles and processes that enable the implementation of corporate governance of ICT.
The Head of Department must ensure that the development of the departmental corporate governance of ICT policy as an instrument to implement the Determination and Directive within the department.
The policy must describe the corporate governance of ICT system, which at a minimum and must include the following:
- The policy objectives for the implementation of corporate governance of ICT; governance structures with clear roles and responsibilities, composition and reporting arrangements between structures.
- The roles and responsibilities of the key role players; identification of all ICT policies that support the implementation of corporate governance of ICT; and proposed measures to monitor and evaluate ICT performance.
At a minimum, the Head of ICT must continuously seek new methods and approaches to digitise the department’s services; develop and define an IT service management policy; develop an ICT plan aligned to the MTEF, prioritise ICT initiatives supporting the departmental strategic plan; develop an ICT operational plan to reflect how department intends to implement the strategic plan over the financial year.
The Head of ICT should also manage the implementation of the ICT plan and the ICT operational plan; oversee and direct the day-to-day activities of the departmental ICT function as well as to ensure that systems, services and infrastructure work reliably and securely in line with the ITSM policy.
ICT Plan
The Head of Department must ensure that the development and implementation of ICT plans over the long, medium and short term for ICT to enable the business and create value for the department.
Departments must develop and maintain an ICT plan aligned to the department’s strategic plan and medium-term expenditure framework. The plan must address the people, processes, and technology matters to achieve departmental objectives as per the objectives contained in the departmental strategic plan.
